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Press Release Date: November 01, 2014

There are still bright points to be seen in African governments relationships with their mining industries, as the purchase of a direct stake in the Navachab gold mine by Namibia’s state run mining company shows.

Today saw the announcement by the Namibian government’s mining-investment company that it had agreed to the purchase terms for a 7.5% stake in that country’s large scale Navachab gold mine. The gold mine was previously bought from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd by QKR Corp owned by former JPMorgan banker ‘Lloyd Pengilly’. The deal will see QKR assist in financing the state-run mining company’s purchase of its stake, with Epangelo Mining Co confirming its intentions to use some of its company dividends to help in the repaying of the loan.

In what was the company’s maiden deal, QKR this year bought the open-pit Navachab mine which lies around 170 kilometers to the North West of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, for a price of USD $110 million . The gold mining operation at the site was commenced in 1989, with the site hitting its gold production record in 2013 of some 63,000 ounces. The mine’s majority owner QKR, is funded to a large part by the Emirate of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund as well as ‘Jan Kulczyk’, Poland’s wealthiest man.

Epangelo, which was set up by the Namibian government back in 2008 to act as a warehouse for the government’s involvement in mining projects, is also set to take on a board representation role under the terms of the purchase agreement. Apart from its most recent purchase at Navachab, the state run mining investment company also holds a 10% stake in the Husab project owned by China General Nuclear Holding Corp, with that project to become Namibia’s biggest uranium mine in 2017, when it reaches its predicted full production quota of uranium oxide, some 15 million pounds.

“In the last few months, there has been at times a more negative than deserved view on the state of government and mining industry relations in Africa. This announcement today by both QKR and Epangelo however, demonstrates just how effectively both parties can work together to achieve mutually beneficial goals. We expect to see more positive examples of this joint cooperation and investment in the industry becoming more prevalent over the course of 2015” commented ARUN Minerals Chief Executive Officer Mr. Han Liu Wei on the deal in Namibia.